The History of Laser Bathymetry

Abstract

This paper gives a coarse-grained historical overview of activities in airborne Lidar hydrography (ALH), starting with the general operating principles of the technique, then followed by a synopsis of the principal, worldwide ALH efforts over the past two and a half decades. This will lead to a discussion of the design trade-offs and performance of the SHOALS system, Optech Inc’s recently concluded ALH program for the US Army Corps of Engineers. Finally, a comparison is given of the current ALH operational capabilities (depth, area coverage, accuracy, reliability, cost-effectiveness) to the currently used acoustic methods.

Keywords

Army Corps System Block Diagram Aircraft Position Shoal Design International Hydrographic Organization

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